Guest column: Bronxville’s Mayor Marvin outlines parking policies

In a new initiative, some of our merchants stayed open late last Thursday to accommodate Mother’s Day shoppers and it resulted in a busy, vibrant and profitable spring evening in the village.

As we promote shopping locally, many of you have cited the seemingly dearth of parking as a prime reason for shopping elsewhere. However, with a little advance knowledge and guidance, whether you are a resident, merchant or visitor to Bronxville, there are places to park for varying lengths of time without risk of getting a ticket.

Most of the parking in the village metered lots do require a permit between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., so be diligent in reading signs. However, all of these same meters labeled merchant or resident allow anyone to use the spaces after 3 p.m. each day.

For residents of the village, resident parking permits are available for $20 per year and entitle residents to park in those spaces in village lots designated “Residents Only” at any time. Parkers must still feed the meters.

Bronxville residents who need to park for the entire day (long term) in the village or near the train station may obtain a resident permit at Village Hall and park at the “Resident Parking” meters along the railroad tracks in the Kraft Avenue Lot or on the perimeter of the second lot on Kensington Road. These “quarters only” meters cost 50 cents per hour Monday through Friday and $1 per hour on Saturday. They are free on Sunday.

If feeding the meter is undesirable, residents may purchase a pre-paid commuter buy-out for an annual fee of $900. This permit allows parking at all of the meters mentioned above as well as the Avalon Lot on the West Side. In an effort to promote green initiatives and save valuable parking spaces, residents driving Vespas/motorbikes may park for free in the Avalon Lot after obtaining their free permit at village Hall.

If you are not eligible for a resident parking permit, you can still park at all street meters or in the public meter sections of the Cedar Street, Garden Avenue, Kraft Avenue and Lower Kensington II Lots. These meters all vary in length of stay from 90 minutes to 12 hours so read the signs carefully.

The longest term meters (up to 12 hours) are available at the following sites:

All meters on Kensington Road except for the first eight spaces nearest to 1 Pondfield Road

All meters on Meadow Avenue

All meters at the angled spaces on Stone Place

These spaces are a great solution for all-day visitors.

Parking is prohibited on all village streets between the hours of 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. and cars are ticketed accordingly. This is not only for the obvious needs of street cleaning and snow removal, but also to spot abandoned or suspicious cars left on village streets. However, overnight parking permits are available to residents and qualifying merchants and cost $230 per year. This permit allows a resident to park a vehicle in the Cedar Street, Garden Avenue or Maltby parking lot between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. every day as well as all day Sunday. However, if you do not use your car for commutation, this is not a good solution.

If you own a home in the village that does not have a garage or driveway as part of the property title or you have plans to purchase or rent such a home, you may put your name on the reserved parking waiting list and village staff will contact you three times when a space becomes available. If you are still interested even after the third notification but have yet to purchase or rent your home, you may still remain on the list but will move to the end. These reserved spaces are dedicated twenty-four hours a day parking spaces and cost $110 per month.

The village also has parking arrangements for merchants, both long and short term, so that street parking spaces will be free and available for store customer parking. If merchants or their employees park in street parking places, they are doing their business and the neighboring businesses a great disservice. To alleviate this outcome, we have many parking options for merchants and employees and urge them to call the village Parking Office at 337-6500 ext. 108 or 337-2024 to understand the variety of plans available.

As easy reference:

Two-hour parking

Cedar Street Lot: all meters

Garden Avenue: Lot 1st Row

Kraft Avenue: on street

Paxton Avenue: on street

Three-hour parking

Garden Avenue Lot: 2nd row

Kraft Avenue Lot: row facing stores

Twelve-hour parking

Garden Avenue Lot: rows 3 and 4

Kraft Avenue Lot: resident section

Kensington Road: all meters except the first 8 near the 1 Pondfield Road Medical Building